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Red Bull boss Laurent Mekies said the team faced a “hard reality” when it arrived in Melbourne for the season-opener and found itself 1.2 seconds off the pace. Mekies said: "You get to Melbourne, and you get these massive positives: the dark cloud is not there anymore, and actually, we are going to fight this season, one way or another; we are going to fight. But then the hard reality is that you are 1.2 seconds off the pace, which in fairness is probably quite logical if you think how late we pushed last year."
Audi boss Mattia Binotto says Audi’s Hinwil operation is comparable to Ferrari’s in 1995 and insists 2030 is a “concrete objective” for the team to fight for the world championship. Binotto said: "When I joined, it was for like what I saw of the Ferrari of 1995, and for me, the comparison is to the Ferrari of 1995. It is an old and small factory, little people and processes implemented... I can confirm 2030 is certainly achievable [to fight for the world championship], and 2030 is a concrete objective."
Liam Lawson says F1 drivers are still learning how to manage the “extremely complicated” energy-deployment algorithms in this year’s cars, with battery power deployed by the on-board systems rather than directly by the driver. Lawson said: "There are things that you can do to trigger a bug that happens, and it starts making something else worse, so yeah, it is obviously extremely complicated. At this point, we're still learning even now how it all works, but it is as you get faster through a weekend, you start using more energy. You almost have to try and pre-plan how quick you're going to be in qualifying to know how much throttle you're going to use, how much energy you're going to use and where you are going to need to harvest."
Audi Formula 1 Racing Director Allan McNish said working with Ayrton Senna at his first McLaren test made him realise that talent “only gets you so far” without a work ethic and focus on detail. McNish said: "Ayrton was talking about engine friction and various other things, and that was a benchmark. It made me realise very, very quickly, that if you want to be successful in the game, you've got to step up at every level. Talent only gets you so far. There is a work ethic and a focus on detail that you have to put in. And that was as a driver, but I don't think it is different in any other way of life."
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella said leading the team comes with a “significant responsibility” to protect its legacy, after it marked 60 years since its Formula 1 debut and its 1,000th grand prix at this season’s Monaco Grand Prix. Stella said: "It is certainly a significant responsibility, coupled with a sense of pride, which I'm sure is shared by all my colleagues in the team. It is a privilege to lead this team because of what it represents in the history and present of Formula 1, but above all because of the way the team continues to look ahead and tackle challenges: striving every day to be better than yesterday. There's a desire to write new chapters that live up to the tradition we carry on our shoulders, and to do so in true McLaren style."
Mercedes technical director James Allison says Formula 1’s new regulations are still “immature”, which is driving an unusually rapid development race as teams continue to find big performance gains. Allison said: "One of the defining characteristics of this regulation cycle is just how immature the regulations still are. Development rates are enormous compared to previous years. On the aerodynamic side, the gain rate we're seeing in the wind tunnel is roughly six or seven times greater than it was last season. It's roughly half a second every couple of months, which is a very significant rate of progress."
Honda general trackside manager and chief engineer Shintaro Orihara says the manufacturer hopes to be a “top competitor” again in 2027 or 2028 as it works with Aston Martin on improving its power unit. Orihara said: "It's difficult to say an exact time scale in Formula 1 because our performance is always relative to another competitor. After the summer shutdown, we want to go back to the racing field, and then we are working hard in the factory to bring an even bigger step for 2027, but, again, we should be realistic. So, I think that at the beginning of 2027, maybe we will not have the best of the power units yet, but we will be closer to the top competitor. And then we keep pushing hard to be top competitor, I hope, in 2027 or 2028."
Carlos Sainz is set to sign a one-year contract extension with Williams, according to Spanish publication Marca, amid ongoing speculation over his future. Recent reports had linked Sainz to a possible switch to Audi or a return to the Red Bull family, but Marca says he is now expected to stay put despite Williams’ difficult season with its FW48.
Max Verstappen says the 2026 power-unit energy demands are stopping Formula 1 drivers from making a real difference in grands prix, because time gained in corners can be lost on the straights. Verstappen said: "With your throttle input, by being faster sometimes in the corners, you lose more on the straights afterwards, which is not how it should be. You need to be different, and basically it is just neutralising a lot of lap time. Like you're not allowed to make a difference because it will just penalise you on the next straight."
Former FIA steward Johnny Herbert says he received online abuse including messages saying "Death to Herbert", and that it mostly came from Dutch fans who took issue with him questioning Max Verstappen. Herbert said: "That's easy! The Dutch fans who took issue with me questioning Max Verstappen. Actually, they weren't just Dutch. They were from other countries as well: 'Death to Herbert.' They were the worst. They accuse me of being biased. They still do to Martin Brundle. They say, 'You're biased to Lewis Hamilton.' Well, we are British – and Lewis is a Brit. You're Dutch and you support Max and you're saying we're biased, but you want us to support Max. They can't have it both ways. Of course we are going to support a British driver, but it's objective."
George Russell says his work as a director of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association is driven by the “horrifying” memories of the accidents involving Billy Monger and Anthoine Hubert, and that he wants to speak up when he believes unnecessary risks in Formula 1 can be avoided. Russell said: "It all stems a lot for me from two things: the Billy Monger accident and the Anthoine Hubert accident, both of which I saw live. That was horrifying to see, and as a driver, you have a unique perspective that rule-makers, designers and engineers don't see, purely because we are the ones in the car. But when there is an unnecessary risk and something that can be avoided, yeah, I want to raise my voice and be part of that change."
Lewis Hamilton says his improved form in 2026 is not simply the result of Formula 1 moving away from the 2022-25 ground-effect cars, and that changes at Ferrari have helped him get back to where he wants to be. Hamilton said: "I think people do talk about my driving style not working in the previous car, and for sure I was less happy in the previous car, but I still won races, was still able to pull out great races, like Silverstone [2024], for example. So I think it's just being able to adapt. I think last year there were many elements that just wouldn't work for me with the setup that we had here, and it's taken a long time to get those things changed. We're starting to see those things change."
Stefano Domenicali says the “most important thing” in talks about Formula 1’s next technical regulations is having enough time for all sides to properly debate the direction of the rules, with the F1 chief expecting a framework to be in place by the end of this calendar year. Domenicali said: "I think that for me, the most important thing is that there is the right time to debate. As we know, the FIA has the final call on the technical regulations, but the discussion we are having together, also involving manufacturers, fans, teams, and drivers, I think is in the right spot. I do believe that by the end of this year, we're going to be in a position to have a package ready to be discussed."
Charles Leclerc says he is not worried Ferrari will run into cost-cap trouble, insisting he trusts team principal Fred Vasseur to keep the team’s upgrade programme under control after Mercedes boss Toto Wolff questioned how Ferrari can bring so many new parts. Leclerc said: "On that, I trust Fred more than anything. Of course, there's a lot of work from the team to try and push production and to try and push the creative minds behind the team in order to have upgrades as quickly and as efficiently as possible. I'm sure Fred is on top of that. Am I worried? I am not, because I fully trust Fred and I know that he knows what he's doing."
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